None of us are alone.
It takes Hamid a long time to realize this, after he moves to England, as he rattles through places that he hasn’t managed, doesn’t manage to make home. There were some shining moments, when he didn’t feel so alone, but it never really felt like him. Jagged bits of broken glass lodged their way into his heart every time he laughed with Gideon or with Bertie.
The only times he felt like maybe he’d escaped were when he had moments to spare with Liliana, or when a letter from one of his sisters arrived and he could imagine himself in their arms, laughing at the twins’ latest antics instead of just reading them off paper.
And it all fell apart. English schools, Cambridge, his world. Then there was blood on his hands.
It’s almost fitting, he reflects, later, that he found his family when his hands were once again covered in blood, conjured to save them. Even if what led him there was Bertie, one of those shards of glass, suffocating him every time he tried to take a free breath, a breath that was his own.
But even tempered glass can’t withstand dragonfire. Not flames born of bonds forged while living and laughing and thriving together. Almost dying, yes, and tears, and partings, and loss, but there’s no place in Hamid’s heart for those shards when he can have it full of love. His friends. His family. Grizzop, in his own way, even as they shouted and argued, who was there for him. Zolf, with his own past to work through, who left this fragile thing in Hamid’s hands, and left him room to grow. Sasha, who didn’t know how to talk to people, but who knew what she was doing, and who belonged with their little broken family all the same. And Azu. Azu’s love is far too much to allow broken shattered glass to stay in Hamid’s heart, and he lets them go without a second thought once he knows what true friendship is.
Even when he was left in a brave new world with only Azu, mourning, unable to snatch a moment to properly process or grieve, he had their memories, their warmth.
None of us are alone.
happy birthday, @mosstrades - you and your big lovely heart that you can do anything with.
